And did He Dream of Death?
by MuffinPirate
Summary: Prequel to I Bought These Skittles on Ebay. Just how Zexion's life was leading up to re-meeting Demyx...Dropped.
1. Chapter 1

"C'mere, baby. That's right, you can do it! Whee! Yay, you did it!" A happy mother cheered, as her one year old son struggled into her arms as he was being taught to walk.

She picked him up and flew him up into the air in her arms, the small boy beginning to laugh himself silly.

The mother put him on the ground by their Christmas tree, which was pretty barren. There were only being about eleven or twelve presents being under it, and they were mostly for the small child. Even when the mother's sister and her family come over with gifts, they still won't be plentiful.

The child started to crawl towards the family dog, but abruptly stopped. He thought for a moment before carefully and shakily standing up on his own. He slowly made his way over to the huge dog, taking around one step per three seconds.

Once he made it to the dog, he plopped down in front of it and began snuggling with it. He yawned a couple times before resting his small head on the dog's back.

His mother then immediately squeed with delight at the sight before running to snag a camera.

After taking a few pictures, she put the camera away and went to grab the sleepy toddler.

A few days previously, she had found out that her baby absolutely _loved_ to nap behind the Christmas tree, which was in the corner of their living room.

So she picked him up and put his favorite binkie into his mouth, before tucking him in a tiny little bed that was set up for him behind the tree.

She kissed his forehead and handed him his small stuffed Christmas chocobo plushie before crawling out from behind the tree.

She quietly walked to the kitchen and began making dinner, awaiting her husband.

She glanced at the rather large pile of bills that were on the counter and sighed, before taking her mind off of them by peeling potatoes and humming 'sleigh ride'.

She didn't have to wait long for her husband to arrive, because it was when she had begun to chop carrots and celery that he had come home, looking rather stressed.

He roughly dropped the mail onto the counter, them mostly being more bills.

When his wife, who we shall henceforth call… Cameron saw him drop the bills where the pile of them was, she sighed.

"More, already? When do you think we'll-"I DON'T KNOW, ok? I just don't know! Give me some time to think. Working two part time jobs is absolute hell, you know?" He said, walking over to the counter and sitting on a stool. He put his head in his hands before sliding them back through his hair.

"Honey, maybe if I get a couple of jobs-"No, you can't. We won't be able to afford daycare for the kid. Speaking of which, where is it-"He," Cameron interrupted, but continued. "He is napping behind the tree; he enjoys it immensely," She kindly smiled.

He raised an un-amused eyebrow at her, before twisting around on the stool and looking behind the tree. He saw the small head of slate colored hair and the binkie gently moving in his mouth. Cameron saw him roll his eyes in what she wanted to believe was uncaring silliness. But she truly knew that it was in disgust.

Samuel was never really too proud on having a child. If compared to the Sims 2, she would guess that his aspiration would either be popularity or wealth. He wasn't very happy when he found out that she was pregnant, but his mood became a bit brighter when he learned that it would at least be a boy. Even then, though, he never did anything to help except go to work. Cameron really wanted a divorce; she didn't want her baby to have to be subject to such an uncaring father, yet she didn't want to subject the child to early on divorce, either. So in a way, she didn't want a divorce.

Samuel had, by this time, begun reading the days newspaper. He never had time to do so in the mornings before he left for his occupation, so he always did when he got home.

"Hey, look. Here's a way to make money," He said, pulling a page out of the paper and handing it to his spouse. "We could just send the kid down,"

He pointed to an ad that was labeled '$**449 a day'**.

It read:

'If you are in need of some extra money, we suggest you bring a not so beloved family member down to 527 South Geeck street so they can be tested on to find out important things! Pays about $450 a day. Call 982-1448 for more information.'

Cameron's head shot up to look at her husband in fury.

"What is your problem?!" She hissed, reaching over the counter and slapping him.

"I… I _know_ you don't like Zexion. I know. But… just _please_ try and be a good father, or we shall have to get a divorce!" He said sadly, sighing and combing a hand through her hair.

After that, the only noise that could be heard for what seemed like minutes was the air conditioning and Zexion's booger crusted nose making noise as he breathed through it in his deep sleep.

"Where do we get the papers to sign?" Samuel finally asked, entwining his fingers and placing his chin on them while his elbows rested on the counter.

Cameron looked like she had just been slapped.

"W-what?!" She screamed.

"You said one of our options was divorce. That's what I want," He said, in a completely collected tone.

There was another moment of silence before Cameron roared with rage, and stormed out of the house with car keys in hand, most likely heading to her sister's.

In her anger, she made the worst possible mistake that could ever occur. She had left little Zexion alone in the house with that… that _beast_ of a man!

She didn't have any idea why she went out with him in the first place, or even kept the child when she found out she was—

No, she shouldn't think like that. Abortion is… Murder. She would _never_ kill such an innocent thing like an infant!

But why she accepted his proposal she will never know. She _knew_ he was a gold digger, but… She sighed. It was for her child. She didn't want him to grow up without a father…

Of course, that was when she realized she had left Zexion alone with him. Horrified at the thought of her son being experimented on and tortured, she immediately turned the van around and rushed back home—

--

--Only to find that her nightmare had come true. Samuel was gone, as was Zexion. She took note of the newspaper, which had been cut for the directions. When she realized that there was now a good chance she would never see her little baby boy again, she dropped to the ground sobbing.

--

What a fool. That pitiful woman was stupid enough to leave her most beloved child with him, giving him the most opportune moment to rid his life of the child.

How perfect. Insert evil maniacal laughter _here_.

So, taking advantage of this, Samuel quickly yanked the boy from behind the tree and shoved him into his car.

He reached his destination in fifteen minutes, but it was worth it.

He quickly grabbed the boy and hastily strolled to the front door. Yes, the super secret lab of doom was a house. Of doom. Samuel pounded on the door several times, before finally getting an answer.

A woman answered the door, her eyes telling Samuel that she was cold and uncaring. "What do you want? This is extremely private property and you will be blasted with radioactive juices if you don't leave in the next-" I'm here for the ad in the paper. Take the kid, give me the money," Samuel interrupted her, handing the sleeping child over to her.

"Come in and talk with Hojo," She snapped, turning and walking back into the house, Samuel following.

--

Once payment matters were taken care of, Samuel became the happiest man alive. No more annoying ass child or wife to deal with, money rolling in…

"So just send these checks to this address and I'll cash them in, and you can keep the kid until he dies or something," He, Samuel, said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

He offered one to Hojo, who refused.

"Oh, and do your worst on him, will you?" Samuel asked, smirking cruelly.

Hojo cackled along with him, and obliged to his request. 'Oh the fun I will have…' He thought.

--

So, the beginning of the beginning. Yup. IT took a LONG time, (3 monthssss) yes, but it's something. Will be updated soon (hopefully).

Review, and tell me what you think. Please.


	2. Chapter 2

--

"Hey, brat, _wake up!_" Hojo hissed, kicking the boy who was asleep against the wall in the stomach. The boy, Zexion, immediately awoke and began to cry in pain.

"Shut up!" Hojo hissed, kicking him again. This, naturally, only caused him to cry even louder.

This _hurt! _Why was this man hurting him? He didn't do anything, did he??

"I said _shut up!!"_ Hojo hissed, yanking Zexion up from the ground and dragging him down into the basement, Zexion stumbling the whole way.

Once there, Zexion was tossed into a huge room with a one way mirror thing. The lab was stark white, and the room Zexion was now in looked similar to the one in Professor Utonium's lab from the Power Puff Girls; you know, where they did those simulation things?

Zexion, in his confusion, stopped his crying. He looked around the room and wiped his eyes while sniffling. Where was he? He was confused! Where was mommy? And daddy? Where was he?? He looked a little bit mad at him earlier… Did he bring him here because he did something naughty? Was he a bad boy?? He didn't even know what he did wrong…

All of a sudden, the scary man's voice came out of nowhere! "Experiment one, Slide once," Was all the big speaker on the ceiling said. Ess-peer-ment? What's that? It sounded scary… Zexion hoped it wasn't; He was already scared en—AH! WHAT IS THAT!?

Zexion screamed when a huge orange and black striped kitty jumped and screamed in his face. The whole room had turned into one tropical jungle. There were thick threes _everywhere_ and a few animals, including the big kitty! Zexion screamed and started crying in fright, taking no notice in his newly wet pants. He immediately tried to crawl away, but at that moment and huge furry monkey came after him too! Zexion screamed at the sight of it too.

He crawled hastily in another direction—The big monkey was just about to get him, it was catching up! It was _right there_ when all of a sudden it disappeared. So did the kitty, and the whole jungle scene.

The speaker started talking again. "Experiment one, slide one complete. Effects: Soiled pants, crying and deathly fear. Experiment one, slide two now commencing," It said.

This time, the whole room became black. Oh n-no! Not the dark! Zexion _hated_ the dark with a passion! It really scared him. Mommy had always been there to comfort him but now she was nowhere to be— gasp! Mommy! She was here!

She didn't say anything though, as she walked up to him. "M-momma…" Zexion cried, crawling towards her for comfort… But something was wrong. Did she just walk through him?! He turned around to find here— but she was gone. In her place though, were scary squeaking noises. He continually looked around for their source, only to find none. He turned around once more— and all of a sudden, all these scary flying black things were flying in his face! They were squeaking and flapping in his face! Zexion didn't like it one bit and started screaming and waving his arms to get rid of them, but they wouldn't go away!! Why wouldn't they go away!?

--And then they were. The room became white again, and Zexion's eyes were starting to irritate from so much crying. "Experiment one, slide two now complete," AH! Oh, it was just the speaker… "Experiment one, slide three now commencing…"

--

Afterwards, Zexion had cried all his tears out and had managed to crawl to a corner with his tail between his legs. He had been through five 'terrains'; forest, cave, underwater, snowy mountain and hurricane! He was lucky, though. This woman, a servant maybe?, had come down at one point. "MAKE IT SHUT UP I'm trying to watch my bleedin' show!" She had snapped, causing the scary man scowl and stop his ess-peer-ments.

But after that… He pulled Zexion out of the big room and dragged him into another. In there, Hojo jabbed his arm with a syringe. Within a few moments, Zexion's insides began to burn! He also began screaming; louder than any time before! But that servant woman came down again, and within moments he had another needle in his arm; except this time, in those next few moments, he was out cold.

--

Things went on like this for another five years. Zexion had long forgotten who his real parents were. He had only been one, so of course his small infant's memory could remember nothing but pain and suffering. Hojo and Clarissa were his parents now. They didn't adopt him, oh no. Hell, Hojo and Clarissa weren't even married. He just grew up believing that's what they were.

Everyday, he would be dragged from his room in the attic, have a few shots injected into him or a few random beatings for 'tests', then be kicked out to school.

He had started school this year, but only because Hojo didn't want the law to come over to force him and then find out about things, and then he'd lose his lab rat. He had been given an IQ test as well, and the results were… Extraordinary. The boy was a genius, to say the least! So, instead of being put into kindergarten, he was put in the second grade.

By that time, the boy was thin; too thin. He was used to only getting one meal a day, and his body was barely adapting to the situation. The only other food he got was a bag of skittles. Hojo had injected a bag of the candies with a liquid once and given it to the boy, and now his life almost literally depends on them. So Clarissa makes sure to give him a bag every day.

--

Zexion was really shy. So when he stood up in front of the class, he hid behind the teacher part way. Everyone there was at least two years older than him… And they all looked so chipper. Did they not get as experimented on as much? Don't their daddies do that to them too? Why do they look so happy? ...He must be a failure. A small, pansy, who can't take his beatings like a good child does. He's sorry for putting his family name to shame… What _is_ his family name?? He didn't know… Oh, the teacher was talking to him!

"Zexion, what is your birthday? We put our birthdays on our birthday wall so we can celebrate them when the day comes!" She smiled down at him. Birth-day? What in heaven's name was _that??_ Zexion looked up at her in curiosity. "A what?" He asked, in a whispered tone. "Your birthday! You know, they day you were born?" She asked.

There was a snort and some stifled laughter from the class. "He doesn't know what a birthday is? What the hell? What a loser!" A girl named Larxene spat, cackling at the poor boy. "Larxene! Principal's office, now!" Miss Schanacker snapped, putting a protective arm around Zexion. Once Larxene was out of the room, the teacher looked to Zexion again.

"I… I don't know…" He said, his gaze shooting to his shoes. Miss Schanacker is sympathetic though. "She pointed to a small table that had three other people sitting at it. "Why don't you sit with those three, Roxas, Namine, and Xion?" She suggested, and Zexion quietly shuffled off towards the table, sticking out like a sore thumb the whole time.

--

At break time, Zexion stayed at the table eating his daily bag of skittles. He had brought a book he had borrowed from the local library, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, to read as well. It was then that a boy came walking up to him.

"Hi there, I'm Demyx!" He said, grinning and waving. Zexion was shocked. He looked at Demyx for a while, taking in his appearance and accidentally neglecting to say hello back—he wasn't allowed to talk that often at home, so he was used to not talking at all. After a moment he looked into his bag of skittles, considering sharing them.

'But, Zexion, these are your life line!'

'But they could make you a friend!'

He looked back up to Demyx, who looked annoyed. "Want some?" Zexion asked, holding out the bag to him.

"No way! I don't share things with people who's hair and eyes are a girl's color! I might get yer germs and turn purple like you!!" Demyx yelled, running off.


	3. I can't take it any more!

"Brat, get your ass over here," Hojo snarled, grabbing Zexion by his arm and yanking him towards a lab counter. He not so carefully dropped him onto the nearly clear (as in of nothing on it =_=) table, and quickly wiped his arm with an alcohol wipe. Seemingly out of nowhere, he grabbed a syringe that was filled with a medium green-ish substance, and stabbed Zexion's arm with it.

Zexion cried out in pain—He didn't like needles; never has, and never will. "Shut up!" Hojo snapped, clocking him upside the head. He pushed Zexion off the counter and onto the ground, where he landed on his knees and quickly stood up.

"Get your ass to school! And don't you _dare_ let anybody ask stupid questions and you answer them only to cause another dumbfuck slip up, _okay?!_" He yelled, practically kicking him up the stairs.

"Y-yes, ok!" Zexion said, crawling up the stairs as fast as possible.

-x-x-x Flashback, yo x-x-x-

_Zexion had been intently trying to listen to Miss Schanacker teach about commas and semi-colons when Roxas looked over at him to see what Demyx was doing to him _now.

_He looked at Zexion and noticed a slight change in his appearance than from the last time he examined him. "Hey Zexy, why is your left eye a different color? Weren't they both blue the other day?" He asked in a whisper. Zexion looked over to him and tilted his head to the side. "Oh, um… My-my dad did it… He does a lot of things like this…" Zexion mumbled back, dropping his head in embarrassment. Roxas only nodded and turned back to the teacher._

_During break, Roxas confronted Miss Schanacker. "Miss, Zexion said that his dad did lots of things to him, like what he did to his eyes…" He told her. She became concerned and called Hojo that night, who promptly declined anything being suggested. "The boy is probably just blind! The child's eyes have always been the two colors!" He hissed, before hanging up._

-x-x-x End El Flash-backo x-x-x-

At school, Zexion was worried that he would be punished because he forgot his book at home. "I'm sorry… I f-forgot it at home," He told the teacher, when she asked. "Oh that's ok; I'll let you borrow one for today!" She cheerfully said, walking to the back of the room and grabbing one for him. Zexion was incredibly relieved, yet confused.

A little later, he started feeling weird. He began sneezing frequently, and he began to feel light headed. His nose became runny and stuffed and he began coughing tiny little coughs, and he became pale and started shaking and sweating. Zexion then realized that his dad (-cough cough-) had injected him with a sick! He did that a lot... Demyx seemed to take notice and scooted away from him with a scowl. "Don't you _dare_ get me sick you girly little freak!" He hissed, grabbing all his things and dragging them towards himself. Zexion just looked at him sadly and wiped his nose on his arm, earning an 'Ewww, freak!' from Demyx. "What's your problem? You're always sick, you must have the worst immune system _ever_, but that's not surprising. Purple haired freaks _always_ have something wrong with them," He quipped, scooting farther away from Zexion.

Again at break, Roxas tried to take care of him, and alerted the teacher of his sudden sickness. She had Roxas take him to the nurse, who in turn called Hojo and or Clarissa. Clarissa then had to come and pick the boy up, much to her displeasure. When they got back, Clarissa screamed at Hojo.

"Damnit, you! My job here is _not_ to care for this stupid brat! I should not have to pick him up from school because of something _you_ spiked him with! You made me miss my show!" She spat, before stomping back upstairs to toss the boy into his considerably small bed and room.

--

Time passed, and eventually, Zexion was mostly over his illness. He thought it was the worst flu he had ever had! When he returned to school, Demyx taunted him about his eyes. He also kept pushing him down during lunch and the breaks and spilling his skittles all over his head and constantly ruining his books and the such.

"God you're such a loser!" Demyx snapped one time, after pushing Zexion over. Zexion sighed and slowly got back up, rubbing his now sore arm. "Are you _ignoring_ me?" Demyx asked, grabbing him by his arm and making Zexion look at him. Since Demyx was so much bigger than Zexion, it was a real easy thing for him to do. Zexion, scared, shook his head frantically. "No, I just--" Yea, _whatever_, nerd. Just go back to doing whatever nerdy things you were doing!" Demyx interrupted him before pushing him to the ground again and storming off back to his friends.

It being lunch, Demyx had returned to his rightful lunch table, where Axel, Riku, Roxas, Sora, Namine and Xion sat. The latter four frowned at Demyx, feeling kind of bad for the boy. "Demy, why do you do such things to him? He didn't do anything to you," Namine asked gently, looking over to Zexion, who was picking up his book and walking away with his head down. Instead of Demyx answering, Axel did for him. "Eh, whatever. The kid needs it, so he can toughen up, yea?" He said, tossing a grape in the air and cathing it in his mouth. Namine and Xion just sighed and grimaced.

--

By the time they had reached the middle of third grade, Roxas, Namine, Xion, and Zexion had become good friends. They were there for him when he was bullied, and he in return tried to help them with their homework.

They even came to his house once for his birthday, much to Zexion's confusion (He had finally figured it out; He asked Hojo and he called Samuel and he told him). Hojo was just plain _furious_ that people had come to his house to play with the brat! But he just avoided them, as did Clarissa, who just yelled at them not to interrupt her shows. Zexion led them to his room that was under the stairs, and they gave him a small party and a few presents (Also much to Zexion's confusion; He had only had one birthday party in his life, and he was obviously way too young to understand things at the time).

The next day, they invited him to sit with them and their friends at lunch. They thought it to be safe because Demyx was on a trip with his parents to the beach. So, for a number of days, he happily sat with them. But unfortunately, he was a huge outcast. He just stuck out like a sore thumb, and the only people who didn't look at him with disgust were the three that threw him a birthday party. And Sora. Sora liked him now too, and he stopped hurting him a little while back.

But then Demyx came back. And oh how he was _pissed_. "What is _he_ doing here?!" He screamed. He stomped over to Zexion and shoved him off the bench. He wanted to stomp on his face, but—he didn't have the heart to do it. So he just stomped off.

That was the final straw. Namine and Xion were fed up with what Demyx and his friends were doing to the poor innocent boy, and so they decided to sit with _him_, Zexion, for the rest of the year. "Demyx, you are such a jerk!" Xion had shouted, before hopping up from her seat and stomping off. "Why must you be such an _ass_ to someone so innocent!" Namine said, surprising everyone by swearing. She got up as well, but not before helping Zexion up and following after Xion with him.

--

By the start of fourth grade, a new student had moved to the school. His name was Sephiroth, and he was _really_ mean. The only reason he moved to their school was because he was expelled from his old one! So of course, the first thing he did when he got there was pinpoint a weakling in the school and target him for his bullying.

So now, not only did Zexion have to deal with _Demyx_ bullying him, he had to deal with Sephiroth. He was a lot worse than Demyx. He punched and kicked him, and had even gave him a bloody nose once. One day, after Sephiroth had thrown him into a wall and continuously tackled him in PE, Zexion was ready to break. He… He was just so tired of being such a failure. His dad _hated_ him and did mean things to him (He found out, much to his expense, that no, not everyone's parents hurt them), and most of the population at school hated his guts just because he was different. His mom, frankly, just didn't _care_ about his existence, and every time his father said he had a 'new pet' for him, Zexion ended up being hurt by it!

He tried staring in a mirror once, just to see what made him so... useless. He was short, had two different color eyes, and his hair was a ridiculous natural color. He was incredibly quiet and ate only skittles, practically. He was almost always reading, and he was afraid of _dogs (_Hojo had him fucking _mauled_ by one! It was right after he got sick). Everyone loved dogs, apparently, so that immediately made him an outcast. He also loved to make origami, which is something that only _old people_ should make, supposedly. Finally, he was two years younger than everyone else, and smarter than the rest of them combined. That, of course, pissed most everyone off.

So when Demyx pushed him roughly to the ground that same day and destroyed his origami cranes, he began to have his meltdown.

Usually, he would've just gotten back up and continued doing what he had been previously. This time, though, he just sat there, staring into space with a blank face. 'I'm such a failure… everyone _hates_ me because I'm so worthless…I'm just a waste of space… maybe… maybe if I didn't exist everyone would be happier.' He thought, as he began crying. It was subtle at first, just a couple of tears rolling down his cheeks. But then Demyx had to interfere.

"What, you gonna _cry_ now? You're such a friggin' baby, god!" He scoffed, pushing him down onto his side by his head. Demyx glared once more at him before walking back to his desk, leaving Zexion to just lay there, wallowing in his misery. He tried to find something that was worth living for, but he could find nothing. His life held no light. Sure, there was Roxas and them, but none of them were here today… most weren't. They were on a field trip, and Zexion wasn't aloud to go. Neither was Demyx, and he blamed it on Zexion.

"This is _all your fault!_ If you hadn't been in the way _all the time_ then I would've remembered to get my permission slip signed!! Look what you made me do!" He had yelled in his face, Axel cheering him on.

Miss Schanacker, who heard the commotion, rushed over. She, being the caring teacher she was, was _horrified_ when she saw Zexion curled up in a little ball on the floor, sobbing. "Demyx, principle's office, _now!_" She hissed, pointing to the door as she dropped to the floor to comfort poor Zexion (1). While doing so, Zexion cracked, and told her _everything_. Absolutely _everything._

She is once again horrified by what she hears. She picked Zexion up and cradled the boy, who slowly stopped his crying. When she heard Axel call him a baby, she sent him to the office as well. She stood up and carried Zexion over to her big, comfy wheely chair, and set him down in it. She then called Hojo, who still denied everything. She argued with him for a bit, saying things like 'but he just told me _everything_!' and 'then why is he telling me these things about you??'. After she hung up on Hojo, she called the child services. They came and took Zexion away after they got the proof of these things happening, and he was sent to live in an orphanage.

One thing became another, and the next thing Zexion knew was that he was going to live with his mother, who they had located two weeks later. And now there he was, sitting on her porch. Well, really, he was sitting on the little banister thing that was like a mini fence that was around the porch; you know, with the columns by the steps that hold the overhanging roof up? Yea, that. He was hugging onto the column for dear life, as he was too scared to ring the doorbell. Last time he had to do that, he got shocked tons of times by it because Hojo made him find the right one.

The only other problem with him being there is that his mother had no clue he was coming. She didn't even know he was still _alive_, nonetheless coming to live with her after six years of bieng gone!

--

Funfact: this was supposed to be twenty times more gruesome. In the draft version, Hojo was psychoticly evil.

Yes, even though he's in the fourth grade he's only seven… He skipped two grades and he was one when he was 'kidnapped' per say, so I think that makes seven, anyways.

(1) Ms. Schanacker is 23. She is my orchestra teacher xD I thought she'd be perfect for the role.


	4. Ahhh, DO NOT WANT swings

Zexion sat on the banister fence thing in silence, somewhat hiding behind the wooden post that held up the roof as if it were his only lifeline. After a few more moments of listening to random things going on inside the big house, he heard a few voices near the door.

"Mom! What else do you want me to get at the store?" A voice yelled, sounding impatient. There was another muffled yell from elsewhere inside the house. "Momma says we need bread and Kool-Aid," Said a smaller voice, no doubt accompanying the older one with the shopping list.

"M'kay. We'll be back later!" The older voice yelled again, and with that the front door opened and two people walked out. One was a teenaged boy who had blonde hair and green eyes, and the other was a small boy who had blonde hair and eyes matching those of Zexion's. He looked to be only a year or two younger than Zexion.

The two boys noticed Zexion almost immediately. "Ah, what the fuck? Who the hell are you?" The older male asked. "TREVOR! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" A woman's voice screamed from inside. 'Trevor' ignored her. The smaller boy examined Zexion for a second before running back inside.

"Momma, momma! There's a friend here to play! Can he stay? Please, please?" He could be heard asking.

"What friend?" Another voice asked, this time it was another male, but a lot older. A chair slid out from under a table and a man carrying a two year old (Not the small excited one that came out with Trevor) walked out onto the porch. He looked at Zexion for a moment and raised his eyebrows. "Who are you?" He asked in a serious tone.

Zexion said nothing and just shyly hid behind the wooden post more. Two more kids, two girls, ran out, looking the same age as the small one from earlier. A woman walked out too, and Zexion had a feeling that he had seen her before. "Charlie, Lacy, why don't you go play with Momo?" She asked the two girls, Momo probably being the other little boy their age. They just stayed where they were and stared at Zexion, as did everyone else. This made Zexion really uncomfortable.

He looked down to the ground shyly to avoid their gaze. His head shot back up though, when he heard his name called. "Zexion?" The familiar woman asked. When he looked at her, sort of scared, she broke down crying, screaming 'My baby' the whole time. She had rushed forward and ripped Zexion from his spot and began hugging him and rotating her body from side to side at an incredibly fast pace, as she hugged Zexion to her.

--

The whole family (Consisting of one new husband, a set of triplets, an infant and three step sons) was by now incredibly confused. Cameron then thoroughly explained what had happened six years prior, and after that the dinner they were eating became extremely awkward.

After a short while though, Cameron was able to lighten the mood by starting conversations, and bringing out some yummers dessert. This, of course, was a completely whole new thing for Zexion, and boy did he like it! This… this _ice cream_? Oh my galoshes, how yummy it was! It was this kind of minty thing, with some weird yet yummy substance called chocolate!

B-but, oh noes! It was already all gone… Zexion looked down at his empty bowl silently wishing for more. As if she had read his mind, Cameron smiled and added more ice cream to the boy's bowl. Zexion looked back up at her, shocked, but ducked his head and smiled before going back to eating his ice cream.

--

After dinner, Zexion was shown to his new room. It was… It was _huge!_ "Uh-uhm…" He started to say, looking up shyly at Cameron. "What? Is something wrong?" She asked, concerned. "N-no! It's just… Are you sure this is my room?" He asked. "Yes, why? Is there a problem with it?"

"N-no! It's just… It's so big!" Cameron smiled sadly down at him, before picking him up again and cradling him.

"How about you go play with the triplets? I bet they would love to have you around," She told him. He looked at her, confused. "Uhm, are you… sure?" He asked. Cameron grinned. "Positive. They were ecstatic to hear that you were their age, nonetheless _living_ with us now. They were even asking when you were going to come play with them. They are currently in the backyard, if you would like to play," She told him, hugging him tightly once more before placing him on the ground.

Zexion hesitated at first, but then started to shyly walk out of the room and down the stairs, towards the backyard.

When he got there, he was confronted by Lacy and Momo, Charlie elsewhere in the big playhouse baking 'cookies'. "You're here!!" They squealed. "C'mon, let's go play house!" Momo shouted, grabbing Zexion's arm and dragging him off towards the playhouse, Lacy in tow.

"So, who are you going to be?" Charlie asked, when they were getting ready to play. "Um… Zexion?" He said, confused. "You can't be Zexion, because you _are_ Zexion! Don't you know how to play house, silly?" She asked. Zexion shook his head, before saying sorry.

"Hey it's ok, you don't hafta be sorry! Just think of a name, any name! And that's who you'll be!" Momo said, hugging Zexion. "Uh… Ok… C-can I be… Buster?" He asked. "Who's Buster?" Charlie asked. "I don't really know… But I think he used to be my doggy a long time ago," Zexion explained, becoming a little more brave. "Oooh, you wanna be our doggy?! That's so cool! We've never had a doggy before, ok!" Lacy grinned, pulling him inside the 'house'. "Oh wait! To be a doggy you hafta be on yer hands n' knees!" Momo said, and Zexion nodded, before getting into said position. He gave a small bark, causing everyone to laugh, and causing Zexion to grin.

--

After they played house, Momo, Lacy, and Charlie showed Zexion all their other toys, much to Zexion's pleasure. He had no idea what these things were, but they were so… so awesome!

"What's this?" He asked, opening the roof to a doll house.

"It's a doll house, for our barbies! It's like what we just played, but only with bitty people instead!"

"Oh…"

!!!

"what's this?"

"It's a swing set silly? Don't you know that?"

"N-no, sorry…"

"It's ok! We'll show you how to swing!"…

--

"Ah! Too high! Too high! G-get me down!!" Zexion panicked, almost starting to cry from the fear.

"Ok, don't worry! Just _don't_ let go!"

"L-let go?" Zexion asked, doing just that.

"Ah! No!!" All three screamed, panicking.

Zexion flew through the air, and landed in the sand pit that was nearby.

He just sat there, wide-eyed and shaky.

Just as the triplets were running over to see if he was ok, Zexion stood up and ran into the house, hiding behind Cameron's leg and babbling something about 'evil demon flyer thingy'.

--

"Good night, Zexion. I'll see you in the morning," Cameron said, bending down to kiss him on the forehead. "O-ok…" He replied, watching her as she started to walk out.

"Uh, uh, C-cameron??" He suddenly asked, causing her to turn. "Yes?" She asked, giving up on trying getting him to call her 'mom'. No matter how many times she told him to do so, he always seemed to forget or something.

"S-so, are you my new mom?" He asked, still totally confused.

"New mom? I'm your _real_ mom," She said, somewhat taken back by what he had said. She walked back over to the bed and sat on it.

"Real mom? But what about Clarissa?" Zexion asked.

"Clarissa? Is she the woman who took you from me??" Cameron asked in a somewhat hostile tone.

"Um… I-I don't know. B-but if you're my real mom then why didn't I live with you until now?" He asked. "Because your real father, not Frank, took you from me after we had a fight…" She sighed, the wicked memories returning to her.

"S-so is Hojo my real daddy?"

"W-what?! No! Your… Your father must've taken you to him and left you… Oh look, it started raining! Do you like the rain?" She ended up asking, all in the means of changing the subject.

Zexion looked out his window. He looked back to Cameron and shook his head.

x-x-x Flashback x-x-x

_It had been three hours since Hojo had dropped him off in the park, and now Zexion was even more frightened than ever! It had started to pour, the rain stinging his skin as it hit it. He tried to find shelter, but the best he could do was the alley he was in now. Hojo had put a tracking device on his ankle, meant to trace his every move._

_When Zexion had asked where they were going, Hojo just told him to shut up and threw him out of the care. "I'll be back," He had said, not specifying when._

_Zexion jumped and whimpered when a huge boom of thunder sounded._

_He hoped Hojo would come back soon, in all honesty._

x-x-x End Flashbackery x-x-x

"C-can I um…" Zexion started, but when he looked up to see his mother's sad face he quickly said nevermind. "No, no, what were you going to ask, sweatheart?" She asked, stroking his hair. "C-can I sleep with you tonight? I really don't like the rain…" He whispered, turning his head away in humiliation.

"Of course!" Cameron said, picking him up and carrying him out of the room and to her own.

--

"So how does starting school to you sound?" Frank asked him one day, about four weeks after he had started living there. "School?? I love—" Zexion started, but instantly the memories came ripping into his skull, and the thought of school immediately turned into a nightmare. "Um… I… I don't know…" He whispered, his head dropping.

"Well, we already enrolled you kiddo. You start tomorrow," Frank told him, turning to look at him with a smile. Zexion gave him a weak smile in return. He just hoped that this school would be a lot different than his old one… in good ways.


End file.
